The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and relevant links.

Snail Trail

This abstract sketch was created by a snail browsing on algae. The palate was the neglected glass on my greenhouse in the Chilterns, England. The seemingly random image pattern results from the snail's radula scraping green cells from the glass. Note the fractal features of this snail trail. A fractal is essentially a fragmented geometric shape that can be subdivided into parts, each of which is, at least approximately, a small-scale copy of the whole.